Last week, I hinted that we came back from a vacation where almost everything seemed to go wrong. The exception was the weather. Even that rose had its thorn as everyone commented when we got back, “You picked the right time for a vacation. What perfect weather!” The only response you can give is, “Yeah it was great!”

So here’s the real story and the lesson we learned.

Every year we go to Block Island for a few days. It’s the area with the fewest people (~1000) in the smallest state. The island has one grocery store, one bank, and one gas station… and at least 15 beaches. For me it’s about taking a step back from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just recognizing nature. The sacred labyrinth is a great place for that.

A few weeks before we were leaving, my wife noticed there was a cheaper hotel available. It was $120 a night vs. the $240 a night that we had booked. The location was a lot better, too. Since we would be spending most of our time outside the hotel, why not save some money, right?

On the surface, it seemed like an easy win-win.

In reality, it was a mess!

(Warning: This is going to be a rant. I’m going to be placing a lot of fault on the hotel, but at the end of the day, it was really our own fault which I will explain.)

The hotel was a historic landmark, which meant that it didn’t need to be accessible for disabled people. We aren’t disabled, but it meant a couple of flights of stairs with no elevator. That’s not a huge deal-breaker most of the time, but we had to bring a lot of beach stuff up and down to the car multiple times. As a family of four the beach stuff seems to get big quickly. Some stuff can stay in the car, but the cooler for cold drinks became an issue.

The room didn’t have a fridge, so keeping the kids’ juice cold (refrigerate after opening!) meant trips to the ice machine in the lobby. The ice bucket was designed for a bottle of wine, not half-gallons of orange and cranberry juice. We could have been smarter by bringing juice boxes or bringing a smaller, more portable cooler, but we didn’t.

There was also no microwave to reheat any restaurant leftovers. That was unfortunate as a lot of food simply went to waste and we paid for meals that wouldn’t have had to otherwise.

The biggest sin of the hotel: The wifi that’s based in the lobby didn’t reach our room. I know I said that I was there to connect with nature, but I do like to take an hour at night when the kids are asleep to catch up on news/email.

The room itself was pretty bad. I estimate it was about 10×14 feet with 2 full beds. That doesn’t work well for four people even if two of those are 3 and 4 years old. My wife and I had to each sleep with a kid because we didn’t fit comfortably in a bed together. Instead, the kids rolled and and kicked us all night. We didn’t get good sleep which slowed us down in getting started the next day.

The air conditioning was a big unit on the floor that took up a few precious square feet. The shower was literally a square, about the size of a phone booth. I’m not sure a larger person than myself could get into the toilet area… and I’m not that big at around 180 pounds.

It came with no parking so we had to move our car every two hours (this we knew in advance, but it would still be nice to not worry about it). The television got about 20 channels. We weren’t there to watch television, but sometimes it helps entertain the kids if there’s a cartoon on. I would have liked to have watched a Red Sox game at night. There was no DVD player or anything like that.

Your initial reaction to this might be, “Well what did you expect from a budget hotel?” I actually like Motel 6 most of the time. Budget hotels are great!

The biggest problem was that our needs didn’t match up well with the hotel’s limitations. In the past, we’ve been able to stay almost anywhere. Now that the kids are bigger and active, we need different things.

We’ve learned that is worth spending some extra money for the basic amenities that we need for a family. It doesn’t mean we are going to spend top dollar for every hotel, but we are going to be more mindful about our choice.

The good news is that we were able to tour a perfect hotel for our next stay. It’s around $240, but it is a couple of rooms. It also has what I’d call a “plus kitchenette” as it has a stove. Finally, it is dog-friendly, so we’ll save some money by not having to pay dog sitters.

I’m taking a little trip this week. I’m not that far from home, just a hundred miles north of Silicon Valley where I usually live. It puts me in smack dab in the middle of Sonoma Wine Country, the hidden gem that gets overlooked due the popularity of nearby Napa. The place I’m staying at is beautiful, with a heated pool and a brand-new gym. The view of the wine producing vineyards is amazing. It is 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Why am I taunting you? The hotel room that I’m in is only $120 a night… and the place is empty.

I can only come up with one explanation… the poor economy. In an economy such as this one, I can’t imagine too many people are traveling a thousand miles to drink some wine. I’m kind of disappointed because I could use a little more pool conversation. (On the other hand, it is nice to have the gym to myself.)

Of course hotels aren’t alone in offering deals. You can find deals on all sorts of industries that cater to those with disposable income when times are good. Reminds me how not to long again, every restaurant wanted to save me money as they lured me in with deal after deal. Were they really saving me money? Not really – I could have saved a lot more by cooking for myself. However, they provided with a lot more value than usual.

What’s the lesson to be learned? I look at it and think that you should apply the theory of dollar cost averaging to your life. When the economy is good take advantage by socking away some of that extra money. I know it’s tempting to pour it into the stock market to make even more gains, but I think the rewards are better if you wait for a time when prices are low. You’ll find that your dollar goes a lot further then – just like how you get more stock for your money when investing in a down market.

My wife is active duty military – and with that comes a number of perks. One of those great military benefits is a significant savings on vacations via flights, hotels, and car rentals. Eighteen months ago we went to Hawaii at a cost of half what others would expect to pay. On Saturday, I found out how it would have been even cheaper if I did a little more planning. Today, I’d like to share some of the ways to save money with nearly free vacations – but remember, you may need to be in the military to take advantage of them.

Cheap Military Hotels

Navy Lodge – This is usually our first choice to stay wherever we travel. In the summertime, Newport, Rhode Island is an extremely popular vacation destination with some hotels starting at $400/night. A room, just as good, in an arguably better location, at the Navy Lodge is $75. The rooms are big enough to do cartwheels in and come with a kitchenette (refrigerator, stove, microwave, etc.)

Special Military Housing

When we went to Hawaii, we stayed at the Hale Koa, a military hotel that I would rate with the best I’ve ever been to. It’s about $100/night – which is a bargain compared to the $300/night hotels on the left and right of you. Plus, it’s the only place you can go to a luau hosted by Glenn Medeiros – sing after me, “Nothing’s gonna change my love for you. You outta know by now…”

If you prefer to go to Walt Disney World, you might want to check out Shades of Green. I’ve never stayed there, but prices look to be around $110/night for a prime location on Walt Disney World Resort.

While it’s not a hotel, there’s a small place on Martha’s Vineyard that, with extensive planning and luck, can be had for cheap as well. We hadn’t been able to book there before we moved to San Francisco. I wish I had more details, but I couldn’t find anything published on the Internet about it.

Camping and RV Parks – There are a lot of military camping sites available and Military Campgrounds does a very good job of detailing them. I’ve been looking at the Petaluma campsite as a cheap place to stay on a weekend of wine tasting in Sonoma Valley. Reading reviews with comments like this really sealed the value for me, “The food at the dining facility is still great, although now the rates went up five cents! All you can eat for lunch or dinner for $3.55.”

Space-A: Fly For Free

The military has a program that allows people to fly to many places in the world for free. It’s called the Space Available program, but is commonly referred to as Space-A. If it sounds too good to be true, in many case it is. There are two reasons why we hadn’t pursued this option in the past:

We didn’t know how it worked. No one at my wife’s job had ever tried to fly Space-A and couldn’t really share how it works. This past weekend I spent a lot of time reading John D’s Space-A FAQ. It takes some time to understand the jargon and common acronyms.

You can’t book a flight You show up at the terminal and “hope” that there a plane available, that it’s going where you want, and that there is space for you on the plane. Due to 9/11 restrictions, it’s often not published in advance where and when planes are scheduled to go. We found that the Pepperd message boards flight schedule information is very helpful for determining where planes are likely to go. For instance, we found that planes leave Travis, about 45 minutes from us, and go to Hawaii nearly every day. A few times a month, they continue through to Australia. This can be a savings of $3000 for the two of us – or it could be a nightmare or waiting and lost vacation time.

Car Rentals

Civilians can find many deals on car rentals. However, we’ve found that booking through the military gets us a better deal than any of out other connections. Usually it’s around $30 a day from Hertz for the cheapest – but they always bump us up a class for free.

Connect

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